Negotiations
The Negotiations Universe ''is a TCB fanfic series written by Rated Ponystar, based on Blaze's original story. Much like [[Story: The Conversion Bureau: Not Alone|''The Conversion Bureau: Not Alone]] and ''The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum'', the Negotiations Universe serves to deconstruct the TCB universe and its various tropes. The series takes place on earth after humanity goes to war against and (with help from Equestrian defectors) triumphs over ponykind to stop their ponification crusade. With Equestria at humanity's mercy and most of its leadership either dead or incapacitated, Twilight Sparkle has to find a way to reach peace between the two sides. The series is notable for its much more serious and realistic tone compared to other TCB stories. When the series grew to popularity, Rated Ponystar gave his blessing for side stories to be written in the verse. The stories are as follows: * [https://www.fimfiction.net/story/301668/negotiations Negotiations] * Reunited * Truth * Useless * Rest * Future * Warfare Plot The ponies have lost. Their attempt to convert the human race into ponies has failed. Under humanity's mercy, Twilight Sparkle must negotiate a surrender and ensure Equestria's continued survival. Synopsis (This summary contains unmarked spoilers. Read at your own discretion.) Equestria appeared on Earth in the year 2036 and ten years passed by, during which the Conversion Bureaus were opened and the ponification potion was made available for public use. However, humanity became increasingly suspicious and put off by the changes in the newfoals. Soon Celestia's intentions for converting the whole human race into ponies became clear and she delivered an ultimatum to humanity - convert or be destroyed by the barrier. Humanity declared war in response. The war stretched on for five long years and although they had magic, the potion, and the barrier, Equestria is handily and thoroughly defeated thanks to the efforts of a fully united human race and the Equestrians (notably Lyra Heartstrings, Fluttershy, and Discord) who defected to aid them - the Crystal Empire (along with several other towns in Equestria) is destroyed, Luna and Cadence are dead, and Celestia is rendered comatose due to using the last of her power to protect the remaining ponies from a brutal aerial assault, forcing Princess Twilight Sparkle, the only remaining political figurehead in power, to surrender to humanity and negotiate a truce with the UN and save what remains of her nation. The diplomatic talks go smoothly, helped along by the reasonable human UN representative Anthony Doyle. They have a long discussion figuring out how to help bring about peaceful coexistence between Earth and Equestria and Twilight gains a new perspective on humanity in the process, as well as realizing the horrors of the potion, which not only turned humans into hollow and constantly smiling shells of ponies but also rendered them sterile (an issue that hits hard for Twilight, who herself had sustained an injury during the war that rendered her unable to bear foals of her own). The last subject goes over what to do with Celestia - humanity wants Celestia executed for her crimes, which Twilight refuses to grant, as Celestia was her mentor and mother figure. However, she changes her mind when Mr. Doyle points out to her that without the princesses there to move the sun and moon, a terrible fate has likely befallen the rest of Equus and everyone else that was left behind from the dimensional jump. Realizing that Celestia would've had to knowingly abandon the rest of the planet when relocating Equestria to Earth, Twilight denounces her old teacher and surrenders her to the UN's custody, demanding she be executed for her crimes. Five years after the peace negotiations, Twilight is lonely and desperately needs someone else besides Spike who can help share the weight of her burdens. Her whole family along with Rarity and Pinkie Pie died during the war while Applejack and Rainbow Dash refused to accept Equestria's surrender and joined the Equestrian Freedom Fighters terrorist group to keep the fight going, so she seeks out Fluttershy years after they parted on bad terms in the hopes of reconnecting. Fluttershy has set up a happy and normal life for herself as a veterinarian in a small American town, married to a human and is a proud mother to three adopted children. Despite her anxieties, Twilight successfully rebuilds her friendship with Fluttershy, who had forgiven Twilight long ago and never once hated her. One year after Twilight and Fluttershy's reconciliation, Celestia awakened from her coma. After being put on trial for her crimes against humanity (for which she pleaded guilty), she is sentenced to be executed. On the day of her execution, Twilight goes to visit Celestia, seeking answers. Celestia initially refuses to divulge her reasons, but after Twilight pleads with her for answers, stating she at least owes her once faithful student that much for everything she'd lost in the war, Celestia agrees to tell Twilight everything in exchange for the latter to keep it secret so as to not jeopardize the fragile peace between humanity and the ponies. Twilight reluctantly agrees. Celestia reveals that three hundred years before Nightmare Moon's return, she discovered that Equus' sun was slowly dying, so she dedicated herself to finding a way save their entire world before it was too late. First, she tried to find a way to extend the sun's lifespan, but when that proved fruitless, she decided to relocate Equus to another universe. She searched extensively for a suitable world, with Earth's dimension being the only universe she found that could safely house their world, as the others she found either proved instantly fatal to ponies due to their differing physical laws or were home to dangerous beings that made the humans look harmless by comparison. Although she had hoped to transport all of Equus there, she didn't have the means to do so, and she feared that informing the other races of Equus of what was happening would lead to panic and strife, so her options boiled down to either wasting even more precious (and very limited) time trying to find a way to save their entire planet, or sacrifice all other life on their homeworld to at least guarantee the survival of her nation and subjects as opposed to nothing at all. Celestia chose the latter option, ready to live with her sin. She then created the potion and the conversion bureaus because she was convinced coexistence with humanity (a species she saw as barbaric and destructive) was impossible and she didn't want Equestria's culture to be tainted by their influences, and she was convinced it was all for humanity's own good anyway. Having finally gotten the answers she'd been seeking, Twilight asserts that although she understands and even sympathizes to a limited extent with Celestia's position, she absolutely cannot forgive her former mentor for leading Equestria into an unnecessary and entirely avoidable war that caused so much loss and suffering because she chose to believe in the worst of humanity and disregard all of their good aspects rather than try to make peace. Celestia nonetheless states that while she regrets so much was lost in the process, she doesn't regret doing what she felt was necessary to ensure the continued survival and preservation of Equestria, the ponies, and their way of life. Twilight, begging to differ, departs with a bitter farewell and Celestia is executed shortly afterward. With Celestia executed, the Equestrian Freedom Fighters are all but demoralized and on their last legs. Their final hideout has been discovered and is being raided by a joint human-pony operation determined to stamp them out once and for all. Applejack, a leading figure within the movement and now a very bitter and hollowed-out shell of a mare, comes to terms with what she's lost over the years, including her whole family (minus Braeburn, who defected to aid humanity; Applejack disowned him in response) and her lost friendships (to the point that she and Rainbow Dash once attempted to assassinate Twilight). She and Rainbow Dash, knowing that this is the end for them, uncork the last bottle of Sweet Apple Acres Whiskey they have left and share one last drink together and reflect on their mistakes and the sad realization that their efforts were ultimately useless. The two mares decide to at least go down in a blaze of glory and fight off as many of humanity's forces as they can before they die, only for a random soldier to find them and gun them both down, killing them before they can even finish their drink. Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike later give their former friends a proper burial in the former location of the Sweet Apple Acres farm and a small private funeral as a token of their old friendship. Several years into the future, Twilight is now an old mare who is dying of cancer. She successfully created a cure for the ponification potion and has chosen to spend the rest of her days preparing for the end. As Spike prepares for the approaching death of his adoptive sister, he encounters Discord (who is a beloved celebrity on Earth) and the two have a talk on what to live for since they'll inevitably outlive most humans and ponies, and the two of them dedicate their lives to making sure history is remembered and preserve the peaceful coexistence between ponykind and humanity. Twilight, after seeing a candlelit vigil for her outside her home, is able to pass on peacefully, knowing that humanity and ponykind love and have forgiven her. Over three hundred years after Twilight's passing, Spike became a history teacher and has dedicated his life to preserving knowledge about the details of the war. In that time, Equestria became a democratic republic and has adopted several human customs and holidays, while a new potion has been developed that allows for temporary transformations; the unified human and pony races have also successfully colonized Mars. Also, due to Earth's lack of magic, Discord is no longer immortal and is approaching death himself. Despite his mission giving him a fulfilling sense of purpose, Spike feels lonely, as his friends and family are all dead, Discord himself will be leaving soon, and he'll outlive all his new friends. He is also struggling with his growing attraction to a human artist named Rebecca, fearful of acting on his feelings, much less admitting he's in love with her. Before he dies, Discord advises Spike to let go of his fear of being happy and live his life to the fullest so he won't die with any regrets, a feeling Discord is all too familiar with, as he had loved Fluttershy ever since she reformed him but he never acted on his love for her and made up all kinds of excuses for why it would never work out between them. Despite his fears, Spike heeds Discord's advice and confesses his feelings to Rebecca, which she reciprocates, and they begin a relationship. Universe The Negotiationsverse (as it's called by Rated Ponystar and fans) is a deconstructive take on TCB. It's more in the vein of Not Alone as a serious analysis of how the scenario would play out realistically. Ponification is explicitly stated to profoundly change humans' personalities and become almost blindly and blissfully happy. Twilight compares them to Starlight Glimmer's brainwashed townsponies at one point and even when she was pro-ponification, she admits that they unsettled her. The story is also known for taking the typical stock portrayal of Celestia as a villain and examine what could plausibly drive her to take on such drastic and terrible actions. Reception ''The Negotiationsverse ''has been well-regarded as a deconstruction of TCB, its third story in particular garnering praise for its nuanced take on Celestia's characterization and motivations.